US, Japan cancel drill

Report: Simulation on retaking of island called off so as not to further provoke Chinese anger

Japan and the US call off joint military exercise so as not to further provoke Chinese anger.

TOKYO: Japan and the US are dropping plans for a joint drill to simulate the retaking of a remote island from foreign forces amid a row between Tokyo and Beijing over a disputed archipelago, a report said.

The governments are set to cancel the drill as it could provoke further anger from China after a row escalated when Japan last month nationalised some of the disputed islands, also claimed by Beijing, reported Jiji Press.

The decision to cancel the drill, which would have involved an island that is not part of the disputed chain, was in line with the views of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s office, the news agency quoted government sources as saying.

No official was immediately available for comment at the Japanese defence ministry.

According to earlier Japanese news reports, the exercise would have been part of broader joint Japan-US manoeuvres due to start in early November.

The drill would have used uninhabited island Irisunajima, near the main Okinawan island in southern Japan, and would have seen Japanese and US troops make an amphibious and airborne landing, the reports said.

Like the disputed islands, tiny Irisunajima is also in the East China Sea but hundreds of kilometres away from the archipelago at the centre of the row between China and Japan.

Japan and China have long been at loggerheads over the sovereignty of the islands known as the Senkakus in Japan and Diaoyus in China.

The Tokyo-administered island chain is uninhabited, but the seabed below them is thought to contain valuable natural resources.

The dispute flared in August and September with landings by nationalists from both sides and the subsequent nationalisation of the islands by Tokyo.

Meanwhile, The United States has sent a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier on a cruise through the South China Sea.

The USS George Washington’s mission could raise hackles in China, which is locked in disputes with Vietnam, the Philippines and other governments over ownership of islands in the region.

It will likely reassure the jittery smaller nations of Washington’s support in their tussles with China, whose growing economic and military might is leading to a greater assertiveness in pressing its claims in the South China Sea.

“China will take this as another expression by the United States of its desire to maintain regional domination,” said Denny Roy, a senior fellow at the East-West Center in Hawaii. “The US also wants to send a message to the region that it is here for the long haul .... and that it wants to back up international law.”

The United States is building closer economic and military alliances with Vietnam and other nations in the region as part of a “pivot” away from the Middle East to Asia.

Vietnam is pleased to accept help from its one-time foe America as a hedge against its giant neighbour China.

It has reacted angrily to recent moves by Beijing to establish a garrison on one of the Paracel islands, which Vietnam also claims.

The United States also criticised the move by Beijing.

While most analysts believe military confrontation in the waters is highly unlikely, they say tensions are likely to increase as China continues pressing its claims and building its navy. — Agencies